


A Moment in the Diner

by aflawedfashion



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: AYITL, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25438072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aflawedfashion/pseuds/aflawedfashion
Summary: When Lorelai leaves to do Wild, Rory reassures a worried Luke.
Relationships: Luke Danes & Rory Gilmore, Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	A Moment in the Diner

Luke yawned as he stacked the last chair on the last table. With an early delivery in the morning, he should have stumbled into bed an hour ago, but ever since Lorelai decided to do Wild, he hadn’t been sleeping well. In truth, he hadn’t been doing much of anything well. He was too worried about losing her to function as a human being. And in case he needed monetary proof of how hard he was taking this, he had the diner’s coinciding decline in sales.

He had forgotten it was possible to feel this terrible, but he was rapidly falling into an emotional low he had only experienced during his father’s death and his failed engagement to Lorelai. That failed engagement lead to one of the hardest years of his life, and after surviving it, they’d never seriously considered marriage again. After Lorelai’s divorce from Christopher, she was different. She was scarred and hesitant to get married a second time, so he didn’t push her. He didn’t need to marry her to prove he loved her. 

Honestly, in the last nine years, he had hardly thought about marriage outside of a few fleeting moments. He would have happily married her if she had wanted it, but with two failed marriages between them, the whole concept had lost its romantic glow. It no longer seemed necessary.

He didn’t need a ring to tell him they were happy waking up beside each other each morning. He saw it in the way she smiled when he ranted about things she didn’t care about, in the way she rested her head on his shoulder while watching a movie, in the way she still kissed him good night with the passion of a first date. It seemed outrageous to risk losing that kind of love just to throw a party for the family he avoided seeing on a daily basis.

Their lives had made perfect sense until she decided to leave him to take a multi-week hiking trip. Lorelai Gilmore hiking. Nine years of logical, genuine happiness upended in a second. He knew her father’s death had left her with scars that may never completely fade, and he understood. He never truly recovered from his father’s death, but this reaction was more than he could have ever predicted from her.

He yawned again as his gut twisted either from hunger or worry, he wasn’t sure. But as he considered forcing himself to eat something for the first time since that morning, he heard a knock on the door and turned to see Rory, all thoughts of food disappearing in an instant.

Unlocking the door, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I heard what mom’s doing, and I just wanted to make sure she’s ok.” She shoved her hands into her pockets, a shy smile masking the conflicting emotions in her eyes. “I’m worried about her.”

“Right, yeah, I’m sorry, I should have called you.” He tapped the cell phone in his shirt pocket. “She left a long message this morning. She’s ok. It rained, and she’s still in the hotel. No need to worry.” 

“Good.” Rory nodded, her shoulders relaxing. “Good.”

“You didn’t have to stop by just to ask that,” Luke said. “You could have called.” 

“I tried, but no one answered.” 

“Right.” Luke glanced at the wall phone, fumbling with his hands. “That’s what that noise was, the phone. Phones ring. And then you answer them. I know this. Been answering a phone for nearly 50 years now.”

Rory furrowed her brow, confusion in her eyes as she asked, “are you ok?” 

“Yeah, of course.” 

“You sure because you don’t look ok?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He tried to smile, but lately his smiles were coming out more menacing than friendly. “Hey, you want some coffee?” 

Rory nodded, her gaze growing increasingly concerned. “Coffee would be good.”

With a single nod of his head, Luke headed behind the counter, glad to escape those perceptive doe eyes of hers, but somehow, and he didn’t know how, the pot crashed into the counter and hit the ground, shattering on impact.

“Dammit!” 

“Luke,” Rory said, her voice low and soft.

“What?” He scowled at the broken coffee pot. 

“You’re not ok.” 

“I said I wa-”

“It’s not a question. You’re not ok.”

Luke looked up, and with a resigned sigh, he leaned over the counter, considering what would be appropriate to share with his partner’s daughter. He didn’t want to tell her something she didn’t want to hear, but she was thirty-two years old, far from an impressionable child. She was a fully grown adult who Lorelai constantly confided in. She could tell him what he needed to know. “Did I do something?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know your mother’s leaving me.” 

“What?” Rory choked out. “She’s not leaving you.” 

“I talked to Jess. He said-”

“Jess? Really?” Rory gave him an encouraging smile. “Jess talks to my mom a handful of times a year if he manages to show up for holidays. He hardly knows her, but me, I’ve witnessed every breakup she’s suffered in the last 20 years. I know the signs, and I know she’s not leaving you. Trust me, she loves you more than she’s ever loved anyone, and she’ll be back. I don’t know what she’s hoping to find out there, but I know she’s not leaving you.”

Luke closed his eyes and nodded, unprepared for the rush of tension that escaped his body upon hearing her reassurance. “Thank you.”

“So, come on, let me walk you home.” Rory smiled and playfully added, “Mom’s going to want you well rested when she returns from all that time alone in the wilderness. Not even a good showerhead out there.”

“Rory.” Luke grimaced and pressed his palms against his eyes, as if that could erase those two sentences from his memory. “Don’t say things like that.” 

“Hey, I am my mother’s daughter. Do you have any idea how much more mischievous I should have turned out?” 

“Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, your mother’s t-shirt collection alone is more graphic than a 19-year-old frat boy’s. Some of that character had to have rubbed off on you.” 

“Only a little, but don’t worry, I only borrow the rhinestone penis t-shirt for occasions when I know you and grandma aren’t going to be there.”

“Thanks.” He rolled his eyes before remembering the broken coffee pot. “I gotta sweep this up before I leave.” 

“Let me.” Rory ushered Luke into a stool at the counter and set a muffin in front of him before grabbing the broom and getting to work. As she finished cleaning the diner, she rambled about Paris, a Wookie, and the difficulties of writing. He only understood half of what she was talking about, but It felt good. It felt normal, like he had no reason to worry about losing his family. And by the time they left the diner, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to sleep well while Lorelai was gone, at least for one night.

**Author's Note:**

> I live for angst with a happy ending, so here I am writing this


End file.
